Padres hope their core of young players will help produce a turnaround in 2009

What's more, Padres hitters often failed to take advantage when the count was in their favor, he said.

“I saw a lot of the San Diego hitters swing late when they were ahead 2-0 in the count,” Epstein said. “That should never happen.”

The Padres should acquire more “gap hitters” for Petco Park, Epstein added.

A left-hander who hit 26 home runs for the A's team that won the 1972 World Series, Epstein said he believes in the hitting fundamentals identified by Williams, the San Diego native and Hall of Famer. The two spent 2½ seasons together with the Washington Senators when Williams was the manager, and later discussed hitting over a 10-year span.

After hitting .234 with 13 homers for Washington in 1968, Epstein hit .278 with 30 homers the next year in his first season with Williams.

“If it wasn't for Ted, I would have no clue,” Epstein said.

Epstein said Gonzalez, Kouzmanoff and Headley all have good technique, plus good strength. Here are his views on not only Gonzalez but several other Padres hitters he saw this season:

Gonzalez. Phillies slugger Ryan Howard won the league's MVP award two years ago and has 175 home runs over the past four years, but in Epstein's view, Gonzalez is the better hitter. “Who's to say if Adrian were to get traded to Philadelphia he wouldn't hit 50 home runs?” he said. “He's that good of a hitter. He's one of the elite hitters. If he played in a hitter's ballpark, in an area that had more exposure – oh, god. He's good, he really is.”

At 26, Gonzalez is the only Padres hitter to hit at least 30 home runs in a season since Petco opened in 2004. Building on his 30-home run, 100-RBI performance in 2007, he cranked out 36 homers and 119 RBI this year. Gonzalez wasn't concerned that he also piled up 142 strikeouts.

“With two strikes, I'm still going to try to drive the ball,” Gonzalez said last month. “As a result, I'm going to have my strikeouts.”

Said Epstein: “He is blessed with great eyesight and a really good approach at the plate, and technique-wise, he's excellent. He's so effortless at what he does. He's smart. He hits home runs to left field that, you're not going to hit a home run there unless you're looking in that area. I see that thought process. He has that ability to know when a pitcher is going to come in or go away. You know who else has that ability? Manny Ramirez.”

Kouzmanoff. He set a Padres season record for getting hit by a pitch, partly because opponents regarded him as unusually vulnerable to inside pitching. Adept at hammering outside pitches and left-handed pitching, Kouzmanoff built on his solid rookie season by hitting 23 home runs. Of concern was his .299 on-base percentage.

“Kouz has a world of potential,” Epstein said. “He's going to get better. He will get to know the pitchers a little better, where he fits into the lineup, who is considered more of a threat – the guy behind him or the guy in front of him – and he'll be able to sit on pitches more than he was able to do this year.